It’s 5:53 AM. I’m standing in front of the mirror trying to force my eyelids to stay in the upright and locked position, and I’m losing. My body would prefer I turn around and crawl back into the the indentation…

Ten was a particularly hard year.

For some reason, that year the isolation of our small mountain town seemed especially severe. The snow had piled so high on our unplowed road we had to park the car on the highway and…

The Lord has been impressing on me the importance of healing the breach between Catholic and Christians of other denominations. William Potter, a historian, notes “Whenever Christianity is in schism, Islam creeps in.” It sounds like a headline from Europe,…

To all parents of my CCD class who were told the First Communion Mass has a plenary indulgence attached and wanted more information, here’s the deal:

When you do drugs, there are two consequences: 1) when you get caught, you’ll be…

The Day Before

Dripping wet, Jesus clambered up the steep bank above the river and dropped down into a twiggy, wooded area. The bushes were thick and grew close together, their sharp spines picking at his wet homespun garment.

He headed for…

They look so innocent, so pure. They weigh next to nothing, and to a boy, armed with a metal implement, victory seems certain.

My boys looked at them this afternoon and immediately assumed the swagger of victory assured and anticipated.

"We'll shovel,…

For the second time this season, a noteworthy pro-life film has made its way to the screen. In October, we reveled in the theatrical release of Bella, a fictional drama based on a true story, and now The Human Experience,…

You name it, we've been into it. After nearly fifteen years of marriage, there isn't a get-rich-fairly-expediently program we haven't tried. Network marketing. Computer-based marketing. Starting our own companies. eBay. The Stock Market. Real Estate Investing.

If we would just keep…

When the deer died in the woods, I didn't notice. Maybe it had been hit by a car and had stumbled away from the road before succumbing to its injuries. Maybe it had just been unhealthy, and passed away unnoticed…

"Who is Christ to you?" asked Father Joseph.

I replied.

***

Countless rains had washed away the topsoil in the gully, leaving rocky, sticky clay exposed. The green-tufted pine trees lining the high banks clustered thickly, their sharp limbs intertwining to block all but…

It's Friday night, after they have hastily entombed the body.

John brings Mary back to the house. He puts her downstairs in a sleeping room, and climbs the ladder to the Upper Room.

Peter is sitting on the floor against the wall.…